


Thunder

by fairywriter



Series: Storms [2]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-09-11 07:27:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8967631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairywriter/pseuds/fairywriter
Summary: Sequel to "The Sky Darkens"Fíli and Kíli settle into life in Mirkwood.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I decided to end the last fic where I did because that is the last time we will see Thorin, Dís, Balin, etc. for a while. This fic focusses entirely on Fíli and Kíli and their new family. And we'll catch up with the others in a later fic.

“I’m awake, I’m awake” Fíli grumbled at his little brother. He opened one eye “what are you doing?” he asked.

“Thrandie said you could get up all day today” Kíli said as he bounced on Fíli’s bed and tried to pull the covers off of his brother.

“I know, but it’s not even light out yet. All day means all _day_ ” Fíli pointed out, he rather ruined his point though when he grinned at Kíli. He couldn’t actually deny that he wanted to get out of his room for more than an hour or two at a time. Kíli had been telling him all about the elves’ home with such wonder in his eyes that Fíli dearly wished to see it for himself.

“I want you to see my garden as the sun comes up, it’s even prettier than normal! And Butterfly wants to meet you” Kíli widened his eyes pleadingly and Fíli chuckled.

“Alright, but you know that’s not really _your_ garden right?” Fíli threw the blankets off and began to get dressed.

“Well, it’s really Thrandie’s but he doesn’t spend much time in it. And Alfirinor said I could help him plant some new flowers and take care of them”. Kíli kicked his feet around and nearly tumbled to the floor. Fíli sighed and shook his head as he helped Kíli get his balance than straightened his little brother’s clothes.

“First off, you’ll call the gardener by his given name but you’re calling the king ‘Thrandie’?” Fíli asked disbelievingly “second, you really need to be more careful. If you rip your last tunic what are you going to wear?”.

“Camaenor is already working on new clothes for us” Kíli answered the second point first.

“Well that’s good” Fíli asked “but again, why will you call him by his given name but are calling Thranduil ‘Thrandie’?”.

“Thranduil is too grand, it doesn’t fit him, Alfirinor is named after a flower and Camaenor means something like ‘skilled hands’, their names suit them” Kíli explained “I don’t know what ‘Thranduil’ means but it doesn’t fit him. Neither does ‘Thrandie’, not really, but I don’t think he’d like being completely renamed”.

“I wouldn’t think he’d like being called ‘Thrandie’, what did he say when you called him that?” Fíli asked as he fastened Kíli’s cloak and swung his own on.

Kíli shrugged “I haven’t called him ‘Thrandie’ where he could hear me yet, but I’m sure he won’t mind too much”.

Fíli repressed the urge to roll his eyes “mmm hmmm, and why do you think he won’t mind too much?” he asked.

“Because he’s nice like that” Kíli answered firmly.

Fíli shrugged and decided it wasn’t worth it, he doubted Thranduil would say anything too harsh to Kíli if Kíli really decided to call him ‘Thrandie’.

“Alright, let’s go” he said “lead the way” Kíli grinned at him and rushed towards the door.

“Maybe a little slower” Fíli called but it was too late, Kíli was off and Fíli would just have to follow. Fíli sighed but he started out after his brother. “Thrandie” he snorted in amusement and wondered if Kíli remembered the story Balin used to tell of when the dragon attacked, probably not, Mama hadn’t been too happy with Balin for telling them about it, she thought it would give them nightmares. It hadn’t. But it did cause Kíli to voice the unfortunate wish to see a real dragon, luckily not where anyone but Fíli and Papa had heard him, Uncle Thorin would not have taken that well, he probably would’ve fallen into one of his ‘moods’ as Mama called it which, as far as Fíli could tell, just meant that he stayed away from them for a while but he supposed there was probably more to it than that.

Fíli frowned as he remembered Balin’s story, he probably wouldn’t have come anywhere near this place if he’d been capable of making decisions when Legolas had carried him here. Really though, Fíli felt that Balin must not of known _something_ about the elves’ motivations, or maybe the story was exaggerated? Because he didn’t think Thranduil, or any of the elves he’d met, could be as wantonly cruel as the story had made all of them out to be. Why, they’d sounded nearly as bad as the dragon which was plainly ridiculous.

"Fíli! Hurry up!” Kíli ran back to him and grabbed his hand. Fíli shook away his thoughts and followed Kíli to the garden, he was right, it was a very pretty place. Fíli was introduced to Butterfly with all the solemnity that Kíli could muster and the three of them passed a happy hour wandering around while Kíli pointed out all his favorite plants, trees, and stones. Fíli enjoyed himself but he was glad when he saw Tauriel heading towards them, Kíli had far more energy than Fíli did.

“Kíli” Tauriel called “Alfirinor is looking for you, I think he needs your and Butterfly’s help with planning some flowers to plant?”.

“Yay!” Kíli turned to Fíli “will you come too?”.

Fíli shook his head “how about we meet up for lunch? I’d like to speak with Tauriel”.

“Alright, I’ll see you then” Kíli agreed “I’m glad you’re better” he whispered in Fíli’s ear as he hugged him.

“Bye Tauriel! Come on Butterfly” Kíli hurried away and Fíli watched him with a small smile.

“You look much better than last I saw you” Tauriel commented as she sat down beside the dwarf.

Fíli nodded as his smile faded “well, that was quite a while ago. I didn’t get to properly thank you and Legolas for everything either”.

“I am glad we were nearby” Tauriel replied.

“They aren’t alive, are they?” Fíli asked abruptly, getting to what he really wanted to say “our family is dead”.

“That is what we were told” Tauriel answered, bowing her head “I am sorry” she said softly.

Fíli swallowed hard and closed his eyes “I didn’t expect anything else. But thank you for checking”.

“You _have_ been told that you are both welcome to stay here, haven’t you?” Tauriel inquired.

“Yes, Kíli told me what Thranduil said” Fíli told her “I am not sure if we should though, I was Uncle Thorin’s heir, shouldn’t I be learning how to help my people now that he’s gone?” he asked worriedly, the question had been bothering him for some time.

“I think…” she paused, a contemplative expression on her face “I think you owe it to _yourself_ to allow yourself the chance to grow and learn in an environment that is actually good for you. I understand from Legolas that there is some question as to King Dain’s trustworthiness. As such, could you be sure that you _would_ be trained as you ought to be? Or would you end up being twisted into whatever Dain wanted you to be?” she turned to gaze thoughtfully at him “as for your people, the best way to help them, seemingly, would be to become the best person that you can. Which is something that you can do here in safety, with people who care for you”.

“Safety sounds good” Fíli admitted “but I want to be a warrior, as good as Uncle Thorin, or Balin, or Dwalin, I also want to avenge their deaths someday, discover who tore my family apart and make sure they don’t do it to anyone else” he said quietly.

Tauriel nodded “we can help with that” she said, understanding on her face.

“Then, I think we will stay” Fíli decided.

“I am glad” Tauriel answered “Dain would dislike having two elves around guarding his wards”.

“Two?” Fíli quirked an eyebrow at her.

“Legolas is very fond of Kíli” Tauriel smiled at him “he is even having a toy bow made for him”.

“Oh no” Fíli groaned “I just know he’s going to accidently shoot Thranduil”.

Tauriel’s bark of surprised laughter was clear and joyful.

“I’ll have to mention that possibility to Legolas, his expression would be something to see” she said.

 

* * *

 

 Kíli laughed as Alfirinor and Camaenor mocked each other good-naturedly, the two elves were brothers like him and Fíli. And they liked to tease each other. He and Butterfly were sitting on the table in Alfirinor’s garden shed, they’d finished choosing the types of flowers and were supposed to be deciding on colors, but then Camaenor had come in and the discussion had veered to other topics before finally settling on mocking each other’s color ideas.

“No no” Camaenor insisted “those colors don’t go together at all”.

“Of course they do!” Alfirinor argued “what do you think Kíli?” he turned to the little dwarf. Kíli grinned.

“I like them” he proclaimed.

“Traitor!” Camaenor responded “and after I came all the way down here to check if your new clothes fit you” he huffed even as he winked at Kíli.

“I like them” Kíli assured him “and you have good taste in colors for clothes… not so much for flowers though”.

“I am wounded!” Camaenor announced, theatrically throwing his hands in the air.

Kíli giggled as Alfirinor shook his head.

“And people say _I’m_ the overly dramatic one” he lamented.

A knock on the open door interrupted Camaenor’s reply.

“Sorry” Fíli stuck his head in the door “just wondering if my little brother was going to eat lunch with me like he promised”.

“Oh! Is it lunchtime?” Kíli asked in surprise, he’d been enjoying himself so much that he hadn’t noticed that he was getting hungry.

Alfirinor picked him up from the table and placed him gently on the ground.

“You go eat with your brother while I chase mine as far away from my garden as I can get him” he told Kíli.

“Hey!” Camaenor objected “you can’t chase me anywhere, you have to be nice to me, I’m the youngest and that’s how it works. Right Kíli?”.

Kíli shook his head “I don’t think I better answer that with Fíli standing right there” he giggled as Camaenor’s face fell.

“You just don’t like me anymore” the elf pouted “I’m heartbroken”.

Alfirinor shook his head exasperatedly “ignore him, I do”.

Fíli was watching the whole scene with a bemused expression on his face as Kíli giggled again and grabbed his hand.

“Come on Fíli, I’m hungry” he said.

.

.

“You seem sad” Kíli remarked, scooting closer to Fíli and leaning against him. They had finished lunch and were sitting in front of the fireplace in Fíli’s room.

“Tauriel and Legolas didn’t bring back good news did they?” he asked sadly.

“No” Fíli answered, he flung an arm over Kíli and hugged him gently.

“I didn’t think they would, are we going to stay here?” Kíli asked worriedly, he didn’t want to go live in a strange place with family he didn’t know. He liked Mirkwood, he liked the elves, and what about Butterfly? Alfirinor had carefully explained to him that butterflies didn’t live as long as a dwarf, Kíli didn’t want to miss any time with his new friend.

“Would you like to stay here?” Fíli asked, rather anxiously Kíli thought.

Kíli nodded “I like it here” he said.

“I do too” Fíli replied.

 

* * *

 

 

“So you went chasing after orcs” Thranduil stated “may I ask why?” his tone was rather more disdainful than he’d intended and Legolas straightened even more as he repeated what he and Tauriel had learned from the orc they’d interrogated.

“I see” Thranduil sighed “that complicates matters. It is a good thing you went after them, we needed to know this” he watched as Legolas relaxed slightly and wondered, not for the first time, if his son even knew how obvious he was, probably not. Thranduil banished those old worries from his mind and concentrated on the new ones.

“Father, if what the orc said is the truth…” Legolas trailed off.

“Indeed” Thranduil nodded sharply “Someone within Thorin’s own family betrayed him. Then we have Azog supposedly returned from the dead” Thranduil sighed in frustration “and yet, neither of these are actually the true figure behind this whole reprehensible business. So who is?” he stalked to his throne and slumped into it “our little dwarf children are unlikely to be truly safe anywhere, they are hunted on all sides and, other than Azog, by unknown people”.

“What do we do?” Legolas asked him.

Thranduil straightened “we keep them safe for as long as we can, and we teach them how to protect themselves and others. They cannot hide here forever, their legacy will call to them, and when it does we must all be prepared”.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2017 is determined to kick me when I'm already down, but, I have not forgotten or abandoned this fic. So here is a short chapter and, hopefully, I'll be back with a longer one soon.

Alfirinor patted the earth carefully around the flower he and Kíli had just planted. The little dwarf child was talking to his butterfly friend a few yards away and the gardener smiled softly, it was so nice to have children around again.

“Alfirinor” Thranduil’s voice came from behind him.

“King Thranduil” he acknowledged the other elf as he stood up slowly and turned to face him.

“I see you and Kíli have been busy, you've outdone yourself” Thranduil said approvingly.

Alfirinor smiled “Kíli insisted on a riot of colors, I wasn't sure it would work, but I like it”.

“It's… cheerful” Thranduil said “much like Kíli himself I suppose”.

“He's a good lad, seems rather worried about his brother though” Alfirinor brushed the dirt from his hands and knelt down to pack up his tools.

Thranduil sighed “Fíli is having more trouble adjusting than his brother”.

“He needs something to do” Alfirinor said “Kíli has been helping me, and spending time in the kitchens learning to cook, he's got Butterfly, and Prince Legolas has offered to teach him archery” he continued “Kíli's days are full, Fíli has little to do and I imagine he isn't used to that”.

“He isn't fully well yet, once he is, Tauriel has offered to oversee his weapons training” Thranduil responded.

“Weapons training isn't the only thing he needs to learn, he may be a king some day” Alfirinor pointed out.

“Are you suggesting I teach him politics?” Thranduil sounded amused “I can't imagine any dwarf would like that”.

“Well, the only dwarf that matters here is Fíli” Alfirinor said decisively “he needs to be prepared for anything”.

“I see you've been speaking to Legolas” Thranduil commented drily.

“He is concerned” Alfirinor said simply.

Thranduil sighed “I know. And I understand why” he paused, seemingly choosing his next words carefully “I intend to give both dwarf children a good education, based on their strengths and interests, and also they will both need to learn how to deal with the stubborn dwarf politicians they may one day face. I think Kíli is slightly too young for much but I suppose if Fíli is old enough for weapons training than he's old enough for the rest of it”.

“Camaenor thinks there are some old books in the library on dwarvish history” Alfirinor commented.

“There should be” Thranduil answered “of course, we cannot teach them their language or those hand signals that their people use, which is problematic”.

“Possibly they, or at least Fíli, already know much of that” Alfirinor suggested.

“Hopefully” Thranduil replied as a peal of laughter rang out from Kíli's direction.

“It's nice having children around again” Thranduil admitted, unknowingly echoing Alfirinor’s earlier thoughts.

“I agree, didn't expect you to say it though” Alfirinor replied in surprise.

“I am being foolishly sentimental today” Thranduil responded “the onset of Spring does that to me sometimes”.

“Yes I know, but I haven't actually witnessed it since Legolas was a child” Alfirinor smiled at the elvenking. He privately thought Fíli and Kíli were likely the best things to happen to the royal family of Mirkwood in some time.

 

* * *

 

 

Legolas ran his hands along the small bow, it was perfect, of course it was, but Legolas felt as though something was missing. His lips quirked slightly and he began to carve a small design into the wood.

.

.

“Is this really for me?” Kíli asked, his eyes wide as he gently took the bow from Legolas who had crouched down by the little dwarf.

“Of course, I cannot teach you archery without one” Legolas smiled at Kíli’s excitement.

“Thank you Leggylas!” Kíli carefully hugged the bow to his chest and then he shrieked.

“It’s Butterfly!” he looked up at Legolas with a big grin “you carved Butterfly into my bow!”.

“It seemed appropriate” Legolas remarked.

Kíli carefully placed the bow on the ground by the quiver of arrows and wrapped his small arms around Legolas’ neck.

“Thank you” he whispered.

“You are very welcome” Legolas said “now, shall we begin?”

 

 

* * *

 

Fíli sighed as he tiredly lowered himself onto the grass, it had been somewhat amusing to watch Kíli’s latest archery lesson, the little dwarf wasn’t very good but he seemed to be trying to make up for that with enthusiasm. Fíli should’ve been rolling on the ground with laughter when Kíli accidently shot an unsuspecting Camaenor’s hat clean off his head. But lately Fíli had felt… sad? He wasn’t sure that was the right word. Whatever it was made it difficult for him to really enjoy anything, even Kíli’s misadventures didn’t interest him like they should. He was trying desperately to hide it from his brother, he didn’t want Kíli to worry about him anymore than he already did. And poor Kíli had his own problems, he’d started having nightmares that caused him to wake up crying, even screaming one night. Fíli shuddered, that had scared him, he’d thought they were being attacked and then he’d realized that the only thing hurting his little brother was Kíli’s own memories. And he didn’t know how to protect Kíli from that, he’d considered speaking to Thranduil, but he hadn’t seen the elvenking in a couple of days.

Fíli shivered slightly, ever since his injury he’d become more susceptible to cold, even the light cool breeze that was wafting over him now was almost too much.

“I believe Camaenor is in the process of making you some sweaters, until they are done, you should, perhaps, wear your cloak when you are outside” Thranduil drifted slowly down the path towards him.

“I didn’t think of it” Fíli admitted quietly.

“Obviously” Thranduil produced a blanket from under his arm and he carefully tucked it around the dwarf child before sitting down beside him.

“Thank you” Fíli pulled the blanket tight around him but he still felt cold.

“I have been working on setting up some tutors for you” the elvenking told him.

“Tutors? What sort of tutors?” Fíli asked curiously, perking up slightly as he’d always enjoyed learning.

“Tauriel told me of your desire to study weapons and fighting techniques with her, I see no reason you cannot begin that, it will help build up your strength. So long as you take it easy” he warned “if you mess up all my hard work I will be quite upset”.

Fíli blinked, it sounded almost as though Thranduil was teasing him but, no, he was probably quite serious… or possibly... both? Fíli really wished elves were easier to read.

“Of course, a child must learn more than how to fight. One of our librarians, Thalaeth, will begin teaching you to read and write in our language, as well as in the common tongue if you don’t already know it. Kíli will join you for those lessons”. Thranduil continued “Thalaeth will also teach you mathematics. I have decided to personally oversee your lessons on Middle Earth history as I may wish to use examples from the past in our lessons on politics” Thranduil finished.

“Politics?” Fíli questioned.

“It never hurts to have an understanding of how these things work. Of course, I will be teaching you from an elven perspective, it will not be what you would’ve learned from your dwarven tutors, but I will do my best to include the dwarven perspective on matters”.

“Um okay?” Fíli’s excitement was fast wearing off, he was just too tired, and he tried to stifle a yawn as Thranduil continued talking.

 

* * *

 

 

Thranduil stopped talking as Fíli’s head drooped and the dwarf curled up closer to the elvenking. Thranduil blinked, he knew it said something that Fíli was that comfortable around him, but he didn’t quite know if it was a good thing. The elvenking may have decided to raise the two dwarf children, but he’d still been attempting to keep them at arm’s length. It was just better for all of them. Not that he’d had much luck with that anyway, Kíli didn’t know the meaning of the phrase ‘ _personal space_ ’ and would often cling to Thranduil. And, despite the popular belief outside of the Mirkwood, Thranduil was not heartless and he would have to be to not to be affected by the two younglings.

Thranduil sighed, he supposed he might as well embrace it, they had crept into his heart as he had feared they would and it hadn’t even been a whole season. He slowly stood and picked up the sleeping dwarf. A warm bed would be a far better place for Fíli to nap.


End file.
